Parenting Lessons from Bills Fans who grew up during Super Bowl losses(article)

[BillsPride12]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/sports/football/buffalo-bills-fans-parents-kids.html

 

This is a fun read for those of us who grew up during the Super Bowl years.  There might be a paywall but I was able to read the entire article on my phone....it says you can sign up for a free account?  

 

Feel free to add your own lessons learned from the Super Bowl losses in this thread

[BuffaloButt]

That was a great article that every Bills fan should take the time to read!

[MPL]

I was between the ages of 4 and 8 during those years, so highly impressionable. The biggest lesson I took away is that life is unfair and nothing good will ever to happen to you.

My first kid is due in two months. Wish us luck! 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

not able to read it. paywall. nyt doesn't need my $.

 

first sb I was 30. didn't have my first kid until '95 and as much of a die hard as I was/is, she has nothing to do with football, lol.

 

 

[Fleezoid]

3 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

not able to read it. paywall. nyt doesn't need my $.

 

first sb I was 30. didn't have my first kid until '95 and as much of a die hard as I was/is, she has nothing to do with football, lol.

 

 

 

Who has children at 95. And how did you age so fast?

[Marvin]

5 minutes ago, MPL said:

I was between the ages of 4 and 8 during those years, so highly impressionable. The biggest lesson I took away is that life is unfair and nothing good will ever to happen to you.

My first kid is due in two months. Wish us luck! 

I re-learnt the same lesson that I took from the 1972-3 Sabres: don't quit.  You might not get there, but you can live with yourself if you keep trying.

 

When I was in Columbus, Ohio, I knew a VP of HR at a Fortune 500 company.  He said that many companies around the country loved hiring Buffalonians because we:

1. Have no "quit" in us;

2. Are better at turning around office negativity;

3. Are less likely to lie to ourselves in the face of adversity;

4. Are more likely to try thinking outside the box when looking at solutions to difficult problems;

5. Are more natural leaders.

 

He attributed this to things like the Super Bowl losses, the adversity of all the plants closing, the Blizzard of 1977, and such.  He envied our camaraderie with Buffalo bars.

 

He might be an exception, but it was interesting hearing that description of the Buffalo diaspora.

[Mikie2times]

Interesting topic as I have reflected on this before, I was 9 Years old in 1990. 

 

I'm not from Buffalo. Those nights after we lost the Super Bowl would always end in a pillow of tears. The next day I would get teased relentlessly from my classmates.  After each SB loss my mom would take me to Foot Locker and I was able to get either a new Bills jersey or hat. I would wear the hat almost non stop the next month almost begging for the negative treatment from my classmates. That Bills team is what did that to me and that sort of outlook carries onto this day.  

[Maybe Someday]

I was 12 during that 1st Super Bowl loss and still remember that feeling of overwhelming shock that we lost the game.  I couldn't believe it; I was just so sure we were going to win that game right up until the very end.  It really did help teach me to keep my expectations in check.  

 

The last lines of the article really sum it up the best for me.

 

"I just feel fortunate to get to watch them play.”

That may be the best lesson of all.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

19 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

Who has children at 95. And how did you age so fast?

good one. got a chuckle out of that. 1995.  hell, I'll never make it to 95.

[BillsPride12]

12 minutes ago, Marvin said:

I re-learnt the same lesson that I took from the 1972-3 Sabres: don't quit.  You might not get there, but you can live with yourself if you keep trying.

 

When I was in Columbus, Ohio, I knew a VP of HR at a Fortune 500 company.  He said that many companies around the country loved hiring Buffalonians because we:

1. Have no "quit" in us;

2. Are better at turning around office negativity;

3. Are less likely to lie to ourselves in the face of adversity;

4. Are more likely to try thinking outside the box when looking at solutions to difficult problems;

5. Are more natural leaders.

 

He attributed this to things like the Super Bowl losses, the adversity of all the plants closing, the Blizzard of 1977, and such.  He envied our camaraderie with Buffalo bars.

 

He might be an exception, but it was interesting hearing that description of the Buffalo diaspora.

This was beautiful man.  Thanks for sharing 

[BillsPride12]

I was super young during the Super Bowl losses, elementary school age and those are some of my earliest life memories.  I remember all of the Euphoria surrounding the whole thing, the crazy neighborhood parties, the huge pep rallies at school leading up to the Super Bowl weekend.  I thought the Bills were destined to win some of those Super Bowls.  I thought for sure the Bills would make it back someday! I mean why wouldn't I!? At that point in life I was a youthful optimist who only knew of the Bills going to the big dance and good times in life.  Then the drought came and then life came along next.  All of a sudden those were just memories of a Magical time that felt more like something I dreamt about so many years ago.  Who would've thought it would take nearly 3 decades for the Bills to become relevant again?? 

 

I guess those Super Bowl losses taught me that time is really Fleeting and nothing lasts forever.  They taught me to savor the good times in life because you never know when they will come back around again.  They taught me about resiliency and to never, never, never give up in life.  They taught me about loyalty and staying true to your team and your city even when things aren't looking so good.  They taught me as a kid who was born and raised in WNY there would never be a sports team I could identify with more than the Buffalo Bills

Edited January 21, 2023 by BillsPride12

[Marvin]

Addendum: I was at Michigan State during the Super Bowl years.  I relearnt the lesson to stand up for what you believe in even if everyone else is against you.

 

16 minutes ago, KzooMike said:

Interesting topic as I have reflected on this before, I was 9 Years old in 1990. 

 

I'm not from Buffalo. Those nights after we lost the Super Bowl would always end in a pillow of tears. The next day I would get teased relentlessly from my classmates.  After each SB loss my mom would take me to Foot Locker and I was able to get either a new Bills jersey or hat. I would wear the hat almost non stop the next month almost begging for the negative treatment from my classmates. That Bills team is what did that to me and that sort of outlook carries onto this day.  

 

Indeed, for the 4th Super Bowl, all of the Bills fans on campus seemed to have broken out their Bills gear and wore it every day of the week.  We all dealt with crap from others by flashing 4 fingers as if we were flipping 4 birds at the haters.

[kkim0904]

Great stories that many of us feel the same way   That was exactly how I felt when we lost first superbowl.  I was 17 attended Amherst HS.  Next morning in the school, nobody talked, total silence.  We were so attached to Bills.

Edited January 20, 2023 by kkim0904

[Nextmanup]

55 minutes ago, Marvin said:

I re-learnt the same lesson that I took from the 1972-3 Sabres: don't quit.  You might not get there, but you can live with yourself if you keep trying.

 

When I was in Columbus, Ohio, I knew a VP of HR at a Fortune 500 company.  He said that many companies around the country loved hiring Buffalonians because we:

1. Have no "quit" in us;

2. Are better at turning around office negativity;

3. Are less likely to lie to ourselves in the face of adversity;

4. Are more likely to try thinking outside the box when looking at solutions to difficult problems;

5. Are more natural leaders.

 

He attributed this to things like the Super Bowl losses, the adversity of all the plants closing, the Blizzard of 1977, and such.  He envied our camaraderie with Buffalo bars.

 

He might be an exception, but it was interesting hearing that description of the Buffalo diaspora.

You forgot point 6!

 

6. Are actually more likely to be available to work in non-WNY locales because the economy of WNY can't support them there.

 

LOL

[astb41]

59 minutes ago, KzooMike said:

Interesting topic as I have reflected on this before, I was 9 Years old in 1990. 

 

I'm not from Buffalo. Those nights after we lost the Super Bowl would always end in a pillow of tears. The next day I would get teased relentlessly from my classmates.  After each SB loss my mom would take me to Foot Locker and I was able to get either a new Bills jersey or hat. I would wear the hat almost non stop the next month almost begging for the negative treatment from my classmates. That Bills team is what did that to me and that sort of outlook carries onto this day.  

Similar.  I was 7-10 for those Super Bowl years.  Also not from Buffalo.  Every time the Bills lost I purposefully wore a Bills shirt the Monday after just show they're still my team and will always be my team no matter what.  I honestly still do it as an adult 😆

Edited January 20, 2023 by astb41

[Marvin]

25 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

You forgot point 6!

 

6. Are actually more likely to be available to work in non-WNY locales because the economy of WNY can't support them there.

 

LOL

Actually, the discussion arose out of our criticism of NYS's tax and regulatory policies.

[BADOLBILZ]

 

Those losses were rough but we used to have some hilarious stories on here posted about Dad's freaking out and smashing TV's and sh!t like that.  

 

The lessons I took were first that Buffalo could make it to a SB regardless of how incompetent Ralph was(which was something many Bills fans doubted)............and that it was fair to expect success from your team.........and that better coaching and sharpening your team against top competition during the season/playoffs are likely to make a big difference in the SB itself.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by BADOLBILZ

[entropyrules]

1 hour ago, Fleezoid said:

 

Who has children at 95. And how did you age so fast?

obvious-the trauma of being a Bills and Sabres fan..I'm 73 and look like 103

[Mikie2times]

1 hour ago, Marvin said:

Addendum: I was at Michigan State during the Super Bowl years.  I relearnt the lesson to stand up for what you believe in even if everyone else is against you.

 

 

Indeed, for the 4th Super Bowl, all of the Bills fans on campus seemed to have broken out their Bills gear and wore it every day of the week.  We all dealt with crap from others by flashing 4 fingers as if we were flipping 4 birds at the haters.

Nice to see a Sparty on here 👍👍

45 minutes ago, astb41 said:

Similar.  I was 7-10 for those Super Bowl years.  Also not from Buffalo.  Every time the Bills lost I purposefully wore a Bills shirt the Monday after just show they're still my team and will always be my team no matter what.  I honestly still do it as an adult 😆

I think a lot of us exist. Non Buffalo, life long Bills fans. They got a lot of TV exposure in that era. Fun team to watch if you’re a kid. Then for most of us, you can’t go through that experience and just be like, ok, I’m good. Let’s pick another team. In the many years since it never felt like picking another team was an option. In fact, to me, what the team is and being a fan is so linked to the city that even not being from Buffalo, if they ever moved I would stop being a fan. Thankfully that no longer seems to be as much of a risk as it once was.

[Patrick Duffy]

1 hour ago, Maybe Someday said:

I was 12 during that 1st Super Bowl loss and still remember that feeling of overwhelming shock that we lost the game.  I couldn't believe it; I was just so sure we were going to win that game right up until the very end.  It really did help teach me to keep my expectations in check.  

 

The last lines of the article really sum it up the best for me.

 

"I just feel fortunate to get to watch them play.”

That may be the best lesson of all.

 

Yeah I was not much older than you, I was 14 that year. I remember being shocked and speechless just sitting there with my mouth dropped in disbelief for quite a few minutes.